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Monday, May 4, 2026

Civil War Veterans in Fulton Cemetery block 1

A research project to identify and locate the 177 (more or less) Civil War Veterans buried in Fulton Street Cemetery, Grand Rapids. 

This includes 11 cenotaphs. 

Results are based cross-referencing the cemetery records (transcribed first by the D.A.R and subsequently by researchers in Grand Rapids), the cemetery's burial cards, Findagrave, State of Michigan military service records, visual confirmation, and the research of Francis Hall in the 1920s and 1930s (available in the GRPL). It should be noted that only a few have government headstones.

Block 01 (by lot no.) consists of some 17 veterans of the Civil War, which includes at least one cenotaph (Henry Lawyer).


general view of block 01

Lot 2.  Charles Robinson, veterinary surgeon of the 10th Michigan Cavalry.


Lot 7.  The McCray family including Gilbert Marshall McCray and Stuart B. McRay.

Gilbert Marshal McCray and Stuart McCray

Stuart served in the 2nd Michigan Cavalry. Gilbert, although reported as a Civil War veteran by Francis Hall, is not found in the Michigan regimental index.

Lot 8.  Edmund B. Dikeman served in the 6th Michigan Cavalry. As you can see his government stone (left) has all but disappeared below ground.



Lot 9. Alvin Drew served in the 30th Michigan Infantry, Edward in the 10th Michigan Cavalry and their father in the 2nd Michigan Cavalry.


Lot 16. Francis Magennis (government stone) served in the 1st Michigan Engineers & Mechanics regiment.


Lot 17. Elliot Covell served in the 1st Michigan Engineers & Mechanics and Henry L. in the 10th Michigan Cavalry.


Elliot

Henry

Lot 20. William (Orasmus) Horton served in the 8th Michigan Infantry.


Lot 22. Franklin Wheeler served for a 100 days in the 143rd Illinois Infantry and may have served in the 3rd Michigan Infantry.


Lot 23. Charles (Charley W.) Eaton served in the 21st Michigan Infantry.


Lot 26 has two civil war veteran burials and one cenotaph. Peter Lawyer and his son Henry both served in the 3rd Michigan. Peter was discharged for disability, returned home and died in 1863; his son Henry was killed at the Wilderness, Virginia, the following year. Henry's is probably a cenotaph. Also in the lot is the Randall family. Milo  served in the 21st Michigan infantry.

Lawyer center above  the flat stone

lot 26 with the Randall family in the center

Lot 28. This burial site presents a bit of a puzzle. There are two government stones: one for Joel McLenithan and the other  S. D. McLenithan, both men having served in the 3rd Michigan. Joel, however, died in Indiana and is reportedly buried in Sumption Prairie Cemetery, North Liberty, IN. Little else is known of his brother S. D. (Stephen) after the war. To confuse matters, reportedly buried here but without a stone is their mother Mary, another brother Samuel (also without a stone) and his widow Lucina Haney. The cemetery burial records list just three McLenithans: Mary (died 1857), Joe, and Samuel (died 1880).


Lot 20. Charles Henderson served in the 2nd Michigan Cavalry.




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